Virus Life Cycle

TES lesson description

A complete GCSE Biology lesson on virus life cycles, designed to develop students’ understanding of virus structure, host-cell dependence, and the lytic and lysogenic pathways. Students learn that viruses contain genetic material surrounded by a protein coat (capsid) and can only replicate using the machinery of a living host cell. Virus_Life_Cycles

The lesson takes students step-by-step through the lytic pathway—attachment, entry, replication, assembly and release/lysis—and contrasts this with the lysogenic pathway, where viral genetic material integrates into host DNA and can be copied during cell division before later entering the lytic pathway. Virus_Life_Cycles Virus_Life_Cycles

Activities include a retrieval Do Now, key vocabulary, labelled diagrams, mini-whiteboard AFL, sequencing and hinge questions, comparison tasks, bacteriophage plaque analysis with calculations, GCSE-style exam questions with a mark scheme, and a final exit ticket. The lesson combines explicit teaching, retrieval practice, mathematical skills and frequent checks for understanding, making it suitable for a structured GCSE Biology lesson or revision session. Virus_Life_Cycles Virus_Life_Cycles

Learning objectives: Describe virus structure; explain why viruses depend on host cells to replicate; and compare the lytic and lysogenic pathways. Virus_Life_Cycles